RESTAURATEURS CHARGED WITH FORGERY

Accusations involve false proof of workers’ comp insurance

The owners of a San Marcos restaurant face felony charges accusing them of forging workers’ compensation insurance documents, state authorities said Tuesday.

Rhythm City Grill co-owner John Fletcher Johnson, 48, of San Marcos, has pleaded not guilty in San Diego Superior Court to misdemeanor and felony charges.

Co-owner Annette Lucille Thomas, 51, of San Clemente, has also been charged, but she has not yet been arraigned, Deputy District Attorney Pedro Bernal said Tuesday.

According to the California Labor Commissioner’s Office, state investigators looked into the restaurant after receiving an anonymous tip in January 2012 that the owners did not have workers’ compensation insurance.

On Feb. 1, 2012, the state cited the owners and fined them $18,000 for failing to secure insurance for the restaurant’s 12 employees. The state also ordered them to stop using employees without providing workers’ compensation insurance.

During a follow-up inspection about two weeks later, the owners told state officials they had insurance but were unable to provide proof, according to the Labor Commissioner’s Office.

Authorities said Johnson later provided the state with forged documents stating that the restaurant’s employees had workers’ compensation insurance.

Aside from the forgery charges, Johnson is also charged with providing a falsified document to investigators.

Johnson faces a maximum sentence of five years and four months if convicted, and Thomas faces up to four years and eight months if convicted, Bernal said.

Attempts to reach Johnson and Thomas by phone Tuesday afternoon were unsuccessful. A call to the restaurant went to a recorded message stating the establishment is closed until further notice.